


To sleep

by myotishia



Series: All ye who enter here [5]
Category: Torchwood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-10
Updated: 2019-06-13
Packaged: 2020-04-24 02:42:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19164166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myotishia/pseuds/myotishia
Summary: No one in Cardiff has been sleeping well but could there be a not so mundane reason why.





	1. Perchance to dream

**Author's Note:**

> New reader? Start right [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18551278)

Ianto looked down at Gwen, whos pregnancy had become very difficult to hide, enthusiastically talking to Elise about nursery decoration. He was having a slight crisis of conscience after he had been asked to translate a set of recordings that he immediately realised was of Elise. He was told not to inform her and that was what was getting to him. Elise was his friend and they’d both been very open with each other and keeping this secret had been eating away at him. He was just thankful that Tosh had cut the recordings down from what must have been hours of audio. He’d asked her why it couldn’t be translated by the computer but apparently the speech was too mumbled for it to get a clear translation. Just listening to the recordings felt like a huge invasion of privacy. Especially with what he had been able to make out from what she had been saying. 

“Any luck?” Asked Jack, leaning against the back wall.

Ianto handed over a thin folder. “I think these transcripts are accurate. Anything I couldn’t decipher I left blank.”

“You’re not betraying her trust. You’re doing this for her.”

“It still doesn’t feel right. We should have just told her.”

“That would change the results. Just let me review these and then you can tell her.”

“I don’t think you’re going to find what you’re looking for. It sounded more like wandering in the dark just trying not to get hurt.”

“What is it you think I’m looking for?” 

“You want to know if she has more knowledge and control of her rift connection than she lets on. She doesn’t.”

“I just want to know where we stand and if all this is putting her in danger.”

“We live in danger Jack. I work mostly in the bloody office but I have the scars to prove that it doesn’t make me safe.”

“Ianto…”

“Sorry… I just don’t like going behind my friends back. It doesn’t feel necessary and I know she’s not going to trust me again afterwards.”

“She’ll understand.”

“Will she? Are you sure? Did you know she can’t stand to look at herself in the mirror because of the bullet scar on her leg? Because no one else does. She told me because she couldn’t let anyone else carry that or start worrying about her. After this there might be something she needs to talk about but won’t because there’s no one she can open up to.”

“This isn’t about her is it?” He placed the folder down and wrapped his arms around Iantos middle. “What’s on your mind?”

Ianto shook his head. “I just… I don’t know I just hate feeling like the bad guy. Especially when I’m having to look over my shoulder all the time.”

“You’re not the bad guy. Don’t let the paranoia get to you.”

“Easier said than done. It’s been months.”

“I know. I’m working on it.”

“Yea… I know. Go on. Tosh wants this over and done with as well.”

“Five more minutes.” Jack smiled and lent into Iantos neck, closing his eyes. Not that he’d admit it but he’d been having trouble sleeping for the short times he actually did sleep. He’d spent an inordinate amount of time just staring at the ceiling, too tired to do anything but feeling no sign that he could drift off.

“Stop it. I’m going to end up falling asleep where I stand.” He chuckled.

“Not sleeping well?”

“Not for the past week.”

Jack stood back and yawned. “You’re not the only one. Right, can you ask Tosh to join me in my office in about fifteen minutes?”

Ianto nodded.

“And you can tell Elise if you want to.”

“Better than her overhearing.”

 

Owen leaned heavily on his desk, head on his arm, barely paying attention to what was on his screen. It had been a while since he’d gotten a good nights sleep and no matter how much coffee he drank it couldn’t fend off the fatigue. He didn’t have a good enough routine to consider sleeping pills so he was down to just taking naps whenever he could.

“You ok?” Asked Tosh, rubbing his shoulder.

“Tired. I didn’t keep you awake again did I?”

“No… I don’t think it’s you keeping me awake.”

“Oh?”

“I didn’t hear it at first but I swear I can hear a hum at night. Like a fly buzzing but it’s constant.”

“I’ll listen out for it but you could be hallucinating.”

“I considered that but it shows up on recordings too.”

He looked up from his half nap. “Recordings?”

“I was trying to translate Elises sleep talking.” 

“She didn’t say anything about it.”

“She… Doesn’t know.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Tosh, that’s a bit creepy. I know you and unspoken social rules don’t get along but you’ve got to know that one’s a bit…”

“I know. I’ll explain later, ok?”

“I’m not the one you’re going to have to explain it to.”

“Tosh? Jack wants to see you in ten.” Said Ianto, making Tosh jump. “Am I interrupting?”

She turned. “N-no. No it’s fine.”

“Don’t tell me you were in on this too tea boy.” Owen sat up and looked him over.

“I’m the only one who could translate apparently. I’m not comfortable with it either, but it’s done now.”

Tosh stood, wanting out of the whole situation. 

 

Elise yawned and rubbed her eyes, sorting through the books in her bag. She’d started bringing not only her diary but also whatever book she was reading at the time and her dream journal as she’d sometimes nap in the middle of the day long enough to dream. 

“Elise?” Ianto looked tired and rather grim.

“Yea?”

“A word?”

She sat back and looked up. “Sure. What’s up? You look like Jack got into your snack stash.”

“He didn’t but... “ He pulled over a chair and sat. “You know you talk in your sleep.”

“Yes?”

“Tosh asked me to translate what you’d been saying.” He braced himself for her reaction, hoping that she wouldn’t be too upset. 

She kept her poker face. “So that’s what she’s been hiding."

“You’re not upset?”

“I am but frankly I’m too tired to shout about it. I’m more upset that she didn’t just ask. If she had I could have given her this.” She lent forward and grabbed the dream diary, holding it out. “How much did I end up saying then?”

“Enough to make me worry. Are you… Safe?”

“As safe as I can be. As long as I wake up I’m fine… There was no point in worrying anyone when up until now it hasn’t been a big issue.”

“I didn’t translate everything. Some of what you said I thought was better kept private unless you wanted to say something.”

A lump started to form in her throat. “Damn it… Thank you but I wish you hadn’t had to hear that either.”

“Are you going to be ok?”

“Yea… I’ll be fine. Could you give that to them I’m just going to go and get some air.”

“It’s raining.” 

“It’s always raining.”

 

Jack had read through the transcripts, relieved that some of it was just typical sleep nonsense. 

“So… What does it say?” Asked a very depressed looking Tosh, sitting down.

“Anything you need to talk about?”

“No… Just tired.”

“Wait, you can’t sleep either?”

“I know Owen’s been having trouble.”

“So’s Ianto.”

“Have you been hearing the buzzing too?”

“Buzzing…” He couldn’t quite remember, the hub always had a slight hum so it was hard to tell. “Well we know what we’ll be looking into next.”

“I hope It’s something we can switch off easily. I could really do with a good nights sleep.”

“For now we’ve got this to look at. Most of this is Elise talking to herself. She’s mentioned hiding from Abaddon in a tower and looking through the rift at gouges into time and space. On two nights she seemed to be talking to someone named Rofocale about how to deal with him.”

“Jack… Is she safe?”

“So far it looks like she’s ok. It’s like she’s spending her nights exploring the rift.”

“That sounds the opposite of safe.”

A knock at the door was followed by Ianto letting himself in and placing the book on the desk, opened to Abaddons page.

“This is Elises handwriting.” Said Tosh.

Ianto nodded. “It’s her dream diary. She said it might help make sense of her words.”

“Is she angry?”

“She’s upset but she says she’ll be ok.”

Elise looked up into the deep grey sky, letting the water run over her face. Thunder rolled above and the sky lit up with lightning, the air crackling with electricity. Her view was suddenly blocked by the rim of an umbrella. Owen stood next to her.

“What are we looking at?” He asked, playing along with the idea that she was looking at anything at all. 

“Am I wrong for being upset?”

“No… I don’t think so anyway. But I can see why they didn’t tell you about it. Logically it makes sense but it’s still an invasion of privacy.”

“I want to go in and just say everything’s alright but it’s not. I feel like I’m being treated like a lab rat. I know that’s not their intention but it’s how it ends up. I’m fine with any tests as long as I know they’re being done.” She held out her hands, feeling the cold water pool in the right but feeling nothing in the left. “Do you think I made the right decision?”

“With what?”

“Keeping the time travel ability… I could have been normal.”

“Eli, none of us are normal. If we were we wouldn’t be standing in the rain, ready to drop from sleep deprivation and feeling like shit because it took a group effort to translate your sleep talking.”

“You make it sound ridiculous.”

“Our lives are ridiculous, now come inside. As much as I’m into the wet t shirt thing it’s a bit too cold to get away with it.”

“I hope I have a change of clothes in my locker. I didn’t think about it before I came out here.”

“I can lend you a t shirt.”

 

Tosh tried to concentrate on locating the source of the hum even if she was feeling awful. One moment she thought she’d found it and then it moved elsewhere. Not like it was mobile but like it teleported from place to place. She placed her glasses down on her desk and tried to rub the headache away from her temples. Something ice cold was suddenly pressed against the back of her neck making her jump out of her seat and turn to see Elise smiling, her metal hand still held where Toshikos neck had been, water dripping down her face. 

“What the hell?” Tosh asked, in complete confusion.

“I was upset so I got you back for it.”

“Why are you soaked?”

“I needed some air and it’s raining.” She shrugged.

Tosh paused and relaxed a little. “You’re not angry?”  

“No… You were trying to look out for me. I get it. Just tell me next time, yea?”

“I will I-”

She was cut off by a very soggy and cold hug. Owen stifling laughter beside them.

“This is payback isn’t it?”

“Oh definitely.” Elise grinned, letting her girlfriend go. “So what are we doing after we’ve dried off?”

“I’m trying to locate the source of the buzz that’s been keeping us all awake at night but it keeps moving.”

“Maybe there’s more than one source.”

“I can track if there’s a pattern to them but it’s going to take a while.”

“Great, that’ll give us time to get changed. I’m bloody freezing.”

“Are you going to get back at Jack and Ianto too?”

“Of course I am, it’s just going to take a bit longer.”

 

Gwen pulled on her coat, not looking forward to going out in the rain. She hadn’t been sleeping well either but she’d assumed it was because of getting used to her ever growing bump. She wasn’t that big yet but when she couldn’t get comfortable she felt like a whale. Though all of this didn’t mean she was going to be stuck at her desk yet.

“Ready to go?” Asked Jack with his usual smile.

“Yep. You causing drama this morning?”

“Aren’t I always? I think it’s in my job description somewhere.”

“I wouldn’t be shocked. What are we looking into.”

“The hum that’s keeping everyone awake. We’re looking into two possible spots where it could be coming from. Owen and Elise are dealing with the other two.”

“Any clue what we are walking in on?”

“Not one, but we’re taking the site that’s most out in the open.”

“I can still work Jack.”

“I never said you couldn’t but you can’t teleport out of situations.”

“Point.”

She followed him out as he handed her a book. It was hard bound in red leather and when she opened it she note it was half full of pencil sketches and scribbled writing. The notes were written in simplified language instead of full sentences and sometimes whole paragraphs were scribbled out or rubbed away, only leaving indents from where the text had once been. Images of symbols and eldritch creatures covered each side of each page. It was like an explorers field journal. 

“What is this? It looks like a depressed teenagers sketch book.” She said, holding it up to show the morbid drawings.

“It’s Elise’s dream journal.”

“Oh… That’s … Um… Why do you have this?”

“I think she travels the rift in her sleep. She draws the things she finds.”

“Are you sure these aren’t just nightmares?”

“I would have thought that but she says names she could never know in her sleep. I recognise some of the items she’s drawn in there and I know for a fact she could have never seen them.”

“So that’s what the drama this morning was about.You’re worried about her then?”

“Yes… But if she can get in then what’s still alive there could get out.”

“Like death did.”

“Exactly. I don’t know how we could go about combating that.”

“It doesn’t sound like there’s anything we can do about it.”

“Nothing I’m prepared to do anyway. The Doctor said I had to keep her out of the wrong hands but I’m not even sure who that might be anymore.”

“You could always trust her to take care of herself. She’s been training her arse off just to keep up with you lot. Apparently she’s really advanced combat wise.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

Owen squinted into the darkness of the schools unused basement, leftover from years past before health and safety laws pretty much condemned it. The lights had been disconnected so they were stuck using torches. The rotten wooden steps creaked and whined under the stress of carrying someone for the first time in so long. The cavernous room echoed each step along with a slow dripping sound. Finally there was the hum, now much louder and more noticeable, coming from the far end of the closed off area. Both he and Elise had hoped it was something mechanical but the sheen of chitinous shells dashed those hopes. A writing mass of large beetles clicked their wing shells, collectively making a deep hum. The mass radiated a heat that felt oppressive in the damp, dark, room. In the light of the torch long feelers twitched and the hum rose, louder. Owen took a few very careful steps back, hoping to get out and come back with a truckload of insecticide. Elise shuddered and followed suit. The hum rose in volume again, becoming near deafening, as the two backed away. It was hard to stay calm when you could feel the sound actively damaging your ears. Time to run. Owen turned and grabbed Elises wrist, sprinting towards the door and praying the stairs would hold. A huge beetle flew past his shoulder and into the wall with a thud followed by another. The top step gave out as Elise tried to climb it, leaving Owen having to drag her out by her arm, falling into the mud outside and kicking the door closed. He held it shut with his feet, a barrage of thuds where the beetles were attacking. 

The cleaner that had let them in ran over, hands over his ears. “What is it?”

“One hell of a bug problem! Is this basement connected to the vents or anything else that could get into the school?”

“No, no. Why?”

“Got any spray paint?”

“What? You’re going to paint the bugs to death?”

“Do you have any or not?!”

“In the art room.”

“Eli go and get as many cans as you can carry while I hold this shut.”

She clambered to her feet and followed the confused and frightened janitor. “Shouldn’t we call an exterminator?” 

“We don’t know how dangerous those bugs are if they get out.”

“What’s the paint for?”

“They’re aerosols. They’re flammable.”

“You’re both crazy!” The older man panted, trying to keep up.

“You’re the one with giant beetles in your basement.”

“Bloody hell!” He unlocked the art rooms outer door and pointed to a set of shelves lined with different kinds of paint. She grabbed five cans and tucked them under her arm, running back without waiting for the poor exhausted janitor. She almost slipped in the mud as she dropped the cans next to Owen.

“Don’t blow your hand off.” She said, pulling off the can lids.

“This isn’t the first time I’ve done this. Give me some credit.”

“Got a lighter?”

He pulled an old lighter out of his coat pocket. “Hold the door.”

She lent all of her weight against the wooden door as Owen got to his feet and shook the can. 

“Three… Two … One…”

She pulled the door open and the doorway lit up in flames, a popping and squeaking sound started to replace the awful hum as the beetles boiled and exploded. Attracted to the light the mass of insects swarmed towards the flames. Three cans later there was nothing left but the charred remains of the creatures. There was a sweet silence as the smoke drifted away. The hum, they had previously not even noticed, becoming even more noticeable in its absence. Owen tossed the last can down and closed the door before rubbing at his ear.

“Your ears ringing too?”

“Yea, but I don’t think I’ve loved the sound of rain more than I do right now.”

“We’re going to need some insecticide before we get to the next job.”

“Can we fly past the house too? I need to get changed again and you look like you’ve been wrestling a pig.”

“Thanks.” He said drily. 

 

Gwen looked up at the plant covered greenhouse, at the end of the overgrown garden. Moss had grown over a large portion of the glass, only showing small portions of what might be inside. The glass that was visible looked painted black, that was until Jack approached. The sea of beetles holding onto the glass shifted and began to hum. 

“That’s disgusting.” She cringed, watching the creatures legs tap against the glass as they all moved.

“It’s definitely loud. Can you see a way they could get out?”

“Not from here. How are we going to get rid of them?”

“I’m not an exterminator but I can think of a few ways.” He pulled himself up using the wall, spotting a hole in one of the glass panes. 

“Do you carry anything that could kill a swarm of humming beetles?” She squinted as the hum rose in volume, starting to shake the glass.

“Carry? No, but if these are like most other insects then there’s one way to kill them off.” From the wall he could see electrical cables running from the house to the shed. He pulled on some gloves and cut the cable, an arc of electricity jumping from the blade to the wire. “Gwen, you might want to stand back.”

She shook her head and retired to a safe distance. “Don’t electrocute yourself.” She shouted over the deafening hum. 

Jack pulled the rest of the wire away from the wall and made his way back to the greenhouse. With one hand covering the only exit he pressed the exposed live wire against the metal frame of the greenhouse. Sparks jumped and lit up the inside of the structure. The deafening hum of insects replaced by snaps and crackling, the frame of the greenhouse starting to glow, glass shattering and falling away. The final few beetles that had resisted the lure of the deadly light tried to skitter away only to be crushed under Jacks boots. 

“Jack, I can’t believe you got out of that without frying yourself.”

“Everywhere important is insulated. We might want to shut of the power before we go though.”

“I’m sure someone’s already reported something going on in here after all that noise.”

“Gwen… Did you see a single car on this entire street?”

“No, but it is the middle of the day.”

“Could you sleep with that hum running right through your house from next door?”

“No.”

“Exactly, there’s no one here to report anything.”

“Can we pick up some insecticide for the next one?”

“I can.”

“What’s that meant to mean?”

“You can’t be exposing yourself to chemicals. I’m not going to try and stop you working but there’s no way I’m being responsible for you getting poisoned.” 

“You’re as bad as Rhys.”

“Maybe you should listen to him.”

“It’s my body! I’ll decide when I’m not able to work anymore, no one else!”

“No one’s trying to! That doesn’t mean you can get reckless. Stop and think for a second.”

Gwen huffed. He was right but that didn’t stop it feeling as if everyone was trying to take her independence away. She was pregnant, not made of glass. Everything just felt so uncomfortable. 

“I need to get some sleep.” She sighed, taking her place in the SUV.

“It’s already quieter. Why don’t you go home and just rest.”

“I’m sorry for getting my hair off with you.”

“Don’t worry about it. We’re all stressed out.”

“I suppose.” She busied her hands by flicking through the leather bound book. She stopped at a place where it was clear a page had been torn out. Looking down the binding it was the only page that was missing. “Was this page always torn out? I mean before you got it.”

“I think so. I’ll have to ask Elise about it later.”

Ianto rubbed his eyes and picked up his mug, realising it was empty before putting it back down and leaning back and closing his eyes. The place seemed so quiet all of a sudden. The haze of fatigue covered him like a blanket, making it very hard to open his eyes again. He was considering just napping until a voice pulled him from his comfortable semi conscious state.

“I didn’t expect to see you alive Mr Jones.” A rather well spoken, male, voice said. 

Ianto shot awake and looked around, finding himself alone. He ran his hands over his face and stood, grabbing his mug. It was time to just sleep. If he was hallucinating then no amount of caffeine was going to help. As he made his way down to the main area of the hub he noticed Tosh was having difficulty staying awake too. 

“Any updates on the hum?” He asked.

Tosh looked up in surprise. “Oh! Yes. It’s being made by swarms of large beetles. Two sites have already been cleared so there’s only two more and the noise should stop.”

“Then I can finally get some sleep. I’ve started hearing things.” He laughed softly.

“As long as it stops.”

“It better had.”

Tosh looked at a popup on her screen. “What?” An SOS had been sent from Owens phone. Tosh immediately called him but got no reply. She then tried to call Elise but still got no response. “Can you keep trying to call them while I pinpoint their location?” She asked Ianto who had walked round to look over her shoulder with the worried look on her face. 

 

Owen tried to pull his senses back, hanging upside down by his seat belt, the smell of fuel filling the air. He could hear his phone ringing but answering it wasn’t an immediate priority. The SOS was sent so he wouldn’t have to worry about that. He could move his legs and it didn’t feel like anything was broken but it was hard to tell just after a crash. He could see that Elise was out cold but she looked in one piece. The smell of fuel was getting stronger and that meant he had to get out and move whether he wanted to or not. The door was barely holding on so the hardest part was freeing himself from his seat belt without falling into a tangled heap. He crawled out onto the grass looking towards the road and  around for the car that had run them off the road. No sign. Maybe that was for the best. He staggered round to the passenger side and pulled the door. It didn’t budge at first, the hinges bent slightly, but a bit of brute force shifted it. 

Elise opened her eyes, trying to remember where she was. 

“You back with me?”

“Owen, what happened? Why am I upside down?”

“Got ran off the road. Can you move?” 

She gently tested her aching limbs, bruised but not broken. Unclipping her seat belt she let Owen help her out of the uncomfortable position, guiding her away from the wreck that was starting to smoke. At a safe distance they both sat down on the wet grass. 

“What the fuck just happened?” Asked Elise, leaning on her knees.

Owen was trying to put together a clear timeline in his head. They’d been on their way to get rid of the rest of the beetles when a car with tinted windows began trying to force them off the road. No matter what he did they wouldn’t give up and a hidden bridge had sent his poor car flying through the air and tumbling into a field. It was only because Owens car was heavily modified, due to this not being the first time someone had tried to kill him, that saved their lives. “Someone just tried to kill us.”

“I got that bit.”

“As much as I know.” He checked his pocket, finding his earpiece undamaged. “Can you hear me?” 

Jack was the first to reply. “Loud and clear. What’s going on?”

“Some fucker ran me off the road. Me and Elise are just sitting in a field.”

“Are you both ok?”

“Sore, cut up to hell, and I might have a couple of bruised ribs but we’re alive. Could do with a lift.”

“Sure you don’t need an ambulance?”

“Yea, yea.”

 


	2. For in this sleep of death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After being run off the road Owen would really like to get his chance at revenge.

Back at the hub Owen nursed his ribs and mourned the death of his car. He was almost excited to find who had run him off the road so he could deck them and keep kicking until their lungs popped out of their nose. He wasn’t sure that was strictly possible but he was very much willing to try.  

“Well.” Tosh began. “I found an image from a speed camera that showed enough of the cars licence plate to track it down.”

“And who’s the prick who thought this was a good idea?”

“Someone we’ve run into before. A man named Mark Lynch.”

“Doesn’t ring a bell.”

“The man who ran the weevil fighting ring.”

“When did he get out of prison?”

“Two weeks ago. Apparently he had a very good solicitor and being as not one person wanted to say anything to the police they didn’t have a solid enough case.”

He tried to sit forward to get up but just ended up sitting back again as the pain in his ribs decided that movement wasn’t allowed yet.

“Are you sure you haven’t got any kind of break in your ribs.”

“I’m certain. They’re just really sodding bruised.”

“You’re not meant to try and replace your insides with a steering wheel. It’s not healthy.” Smiled Elise.

“Bugger off. I don’t know how you got away with slamming your head like that with no sign of a concussion.”

“I have a really resilient brain.”

“Apparently.”

“I’m going to have a new scar to add to my collection.” She ran her fingers over the stitched cut in her forehead.

“Leave it alone.”

She stuck her tongue out at him and sunk into her own chair. “I want to know how this Lynch guy found out that was specifically your car or that you were that big of a part of Torchwood. I remember watching it all go down and he shouldn’t have had time in the chaos.”

Ianto placed a bottle of water next to Owen so he could actually take his painkillers. “I could think of a few people.”

“Care to enlighten us?”

“Someone who wants us all dead? Knows who we all are? Can travel through time?”

“I really hope it isn’t him. I already want to throw him into the nearest sun.”

“Would you want someone else who wants us all dead that much?”

“It would just be nice to have someone we could find and deal with instead of being stuck. See, this is what I mean about the Doctor.”

“What?”

“Well, think about it. The Doctor can travel to any time and place in this entire universe so he could just go and make sure Billis never comes into contact with Abaddon, and it would solve so many problems for, not only, us but the whole of Cardiff.”

“He’s probably dealing with something world ending.”

“Abaddon is a five story tall demon that can sap the life force from anything its shadow hits. Technically that could class as world ending if he can’t be stopped in his tracks. We don’t know if Jack could kill him off this time.”

“How was he killed last time?”

“He choked to death and don’t even start with the double entendres that could rise from that.”

Owen tried not to chuckle but failed and held his ribs in pain. “Arg fuck! Damn it Eli!”

“Sorry.” She smiled sympathetically. “Speaking of Jack, where did he run off to so fast?”

Ianto sat down across from her. “He’s going to destroy the other two beetles nests.”

“Think he’ll be ok? I mean with that Lynch arsehole on the road.”

“It’s Jack, if his driving alone can’t tip it over no amount of aggressive driving is going to.”  

“Oh come on, his driving isn't that bad.”

The others collectively looked over at her.

“What?”

 

Jack took his respirator off and tucked the small tank, with the last surviving beetle inside, under his arm. The world sounded so much calmer and he hoped that everyone could finally get some sleep. On his travels back and forth he’d noticed how few people were out, and those who were had looked ill. He stored the small tank safely away and stretched, ready for the trip home. Back in the drivers seat he looked over at the leather bound book. He picked it up and flicked through the pages, wishing Elise had put dates on each page. He paused at a page showing he view of the rifts connection to Earth.

It was a drawing of the way back home. Useful if nothing else. People disappeared all the time and if they didn’t end up falling from Earth to another time or planet then they’d be trapped inside the rift with no sign of how to get back. As much as he’d like it Torchwood wasn’t exempt from being pulled away. He’d known agents who disappeared, never to be heard from again. Elises drawings and notes could be used to make a map of the area. That was assuming the rift wasn’t constantly shifting and that the usual laws of physics applied. The rain battered the SUV but there was something soothing about the noise and Jack knew he should get back before he got too comfortable. For the first time in a while he was looking forward to sleeping. Thunder rolled overhead and lightning struck in the distance.

“Ok, ok. I get it.” He mocked, as if the weather itself was telling him to hurry up.

The next morning, the team feeling a little more rested, they turned their attention to Mark Lynch and what he was planning. Owen was still a little fragile and the bruise from the steering wheel slamming into him had started to blossom, deep purple showing through his shirt. Elise had managed to mostly cover the bruising on her forehead under her bangs and with some full coverage concealer that was not fun to apply. Tosh hadn’t stopped fussing over them both since they’d left work the night before. The rain still hadn’t eased but thankfully the overabundance of water hadn’t washed anything up they had to worry about.

Gwen had asked her contacts about Lynch. His criminal record was short and shaky at best but from what she’d been told he had one huge attitude problem. He considered every small slight as a personal attack on his masculinity and wasn’t afraid to make his feelings heard. In short he was your typical insecure arsehole who thought money made him more important than he actually was. He’d acted like a mobster when he was arrested and Gwen guessed he actually believed himself to have the position of a mob boss too.

“We need to find something we can pin on him and get him put away.”

Owen sighed. “Attempted murder not cutting it?” He knew that being part of Torchwood made reporting that sort of thing iffy at best.

“Unless we get a confession no.”

“Give me twenty minutes alone with him.”

“You can barely move.”

“For now.”

“Well, for now what are we going to do?”

“If we had footage of Lynch setting up the fights it would have been a solid case.” Jack lamented. It was the downside of being forewarned.

Gwen nodded. “Do you think he’ll start it all up again?”

“There’s no weevils left in the city to use.”

Elise lent back in her chair. “What if there was?”

“I didn’t think you liked using the weevils as bait.”

“I don’t but I can think of at least one that would love the opportunity to get his claws on a human. Especially one he would have heard of.”

“We can’t leave it up to a weevil, no matter how enthusiastic it is.”

“Of course not. The weevil’s just the sugar water to attract the fly. We’d still need the spider and web to trap it.”

“He’d recognise any of us.”

“Any of you.”

“Are you volunteering?”

“What do you think? By now word would have got around and all he needs is someone who knows where the weevils went. Maybe we should give him exactly what he wants. Make sure we get everything as he organises it and then hand him in before he lays a finger on anyone or any thing.”

“Are you sure you’re up to that?”

“I’m fine. And what better way to sell that I deal with weevils than being bruised and scratched to hell?”

Tosh couldn’t help but grumble. “Eli, darling, I know you have a bit of an unhealthy tendency to be reckless but this is just asking for trouble.”

“If he becomes a problem I’ll punch him with my solid metal arm. Frankly, he deserves a little pain after trying to kill us.”  

“With everything that’s gone on are you sure?”

“I’m certain. First I’ve got to go and talk to that huge weevil. Do the females with implants have trackers?”

 

After a short trip to talk to the unusually enthusiastic weevil Elise headed to see this Mr Lynch. Maybe it was how many times she’d thrown herself into danger by this point but this mission didn’t seem like such a big deal. She wasn’t completely sure. Mark Lynch was very much giving the air of being squeaky clean and gave her a salesman's smile as she entered.

“Can I help you?” He asked.

She reflected him with her own customer service smile. “Actually I think I can help you.”

“Oh?”

She lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Now that messy business is over I heard you need some new… Combatants?”

He was trying to look disinterested but she could see the spark in his eyes. “That was never proven in court.”

“You and I both know courts have very little power.” She took a digital camera from her pocket and held it out to him. “Here, a little proof of my interest.”

Mark took the camera and looked through the last six images, all showing very annoyed looking weevils. Granted weevils all had a case of resting rage face, but still they certainly looked the part. “Where did you find these?”

“If I told you that you wouldn’t need me, now would you?”

“What do you want from me?”

“You have contacts and locations.” She took the small camera back. “Here.” She replaced it with a number on a card. “Think about it and call me when you’ve decided. And one more thing, don’t try and follow me. Trust me when I tell you that I have enough people under my employ to make sure things go badly for you if you overstep your bounds.”

The man smirked. “I’ll keep that in mind. What should I call you then?”

“Daliah. Just call me Daliah.” She said as she flounced out. She made sure to walk at least three streets away and double checked she wasn’t being followed before calling for a lift. Any of the vehicles belonging to Torchwood would be recognised so she had to do a lot of walking.

 

“Do you think he’ll take the bait?” Asked Tosh.

Gwen nodded. “Of course he will. He was making a lot of money before the bust and old habits die hard.”

“It just seems so mindless. Why would anyone want to fight a weevil?”

“It makes them feel like they’re not completely useless. They think they’ve got to prove themselves to the world. It’s just kind of sad.”

“And asking for a horrible death.”

“They like to forget that even if they walk out of there with all of their limbs even one scratch will probably get infected.” Owen piped up, twirling a pen between his fingers. “And don’t get me started on the bites. I’d rather get bitten by a human than one of those things and that’s saying something.”

Gwen cringed. “Human bites used to be the worst. You had to go to the hospital no matter what.”

They all looked up as Ianto placed a large box over on Elises desk.

“What’s that?”

“Paper based revenge.” He said plainly as if that explained anything.

“Yours or..?”

“Elise said she needed these for her little revenge plan for Jack.”

“And you think no one's going to say anything?”

“Of course not. You all want to know what she’s going to do so you’re not going to try and stop it.” He smiled to himself.

“He’ll notice the boxes.”

“This is a man who regularly slams his foot into his desk because it was moved three months ago and he still hasn’t changed his mental map of the place. No, he’s not going to notice.”

 

Billis rolled his eyes as Mark enthused about his plans, waiting for the man to be done.

“You do realise that his is a trap, don’t you?” He finally asked.

Mark paused. “What?”

“This Daliah, she obviously works for Torchwood. You got away with it so they are trying to build a case against you. Who else would know anything about these creatures?” It seemed so obvious but that was years of experience talking.

“And if she doesn’t? I’m not giving up my chance. I’ll just feed her to those things.”

“And then what do you plan to do Mr Lynch?”

He wasn’t thinking about the long term, only the short.

“They are never going to give up, unless…”

“Unless what?”

“I happen to know a few things about Torchwood. Did you know their leader can’t die? I’m sure you could make a sum for the experience of killing someone and you don’t have to worry about disposing of a body. The rest you can feed to the creatures.”

Mark sat, resting his head on his hands, deep in thought. “How?”

“If this Daliah woman were to go suddenly missing I’m sure her team would come running, especially as she must be new.”

“So I let her think everything’s fine and when we’re in the middle of setting up I have the creatures taken and keep them fed with her. Lure the others out and get myself a new show.”

“You make it sound so simple, but as a … Friend?... Let me help you.” Billis took a small device from his pocket. It looked like a pocket watch but had no hands or numbers. “The sound this makes should prevent any recordings.”

Mark took the silver object and looked it over. Tiny cogs turned and span inside. He held it up to his ear and could hear an extremely high pitched tone.

“Keep it with you. Now, I have other business to attend to.”

Mark looked up but Billis was already gone.

The pocket watch did exactly what Mr Major said but it had a secondary purpose. It would slowly gain tension inside and eventually snap, breaking out of the casing and releasing the hundreds of tiny blades at high speed. It would get Lynch out of the way and hopefully take out a few Torchwood agents as well. He’d learned his lesson, to make sure for himself that each person was dead. He wouldn’t be fooled again.

 

With an address and a date for the fight club, plus so very interested recorded phone calls something wasn’t sitting right with Jack. The rift had been fluctuating but, thankfully, was only throwing out historical pieces of what was essentially junk. He’d gone out to clear his head and the hub was unusually quiet when he returned. He could hear the faint sound of Tosh giggling though he wasn’t quite sure where from.

“Where is everyone?” He called but got no reply. He was starting to wonder if his team was made up of adults or children.

His office door was closed, unusual as when he was away he tended to leave the door ajar. The frosted glass looked like it was covered in something brightly coloured. Opening the door he realised what. Every surface, wall, item and even the ceiling was covered in neon post it notes. He didn’t know whether to be annoyed or impressed with the dedication it must have taken. Elise leaned in the doorway, holding the last pad of notes.

“This is what you get for having me recorded without my permission.” She smiled.

He turned and tried not to crack a smile. “How long did this take?”

“A few hours.”

“And this is my punishment?”

“Yep. I’ve had Ianto vow he won’t clean it up for you.”

“And if it happens again?”

“I will post it note everything you care about.” She scowled.

He lost his composure, laughing at the ridiculous threat and the seriousness with which it had been delivered. He plucked a note from the desk and stuck it to her forehead.

“If Ianto was in on this then I want to be in on how you get back at him.”

“Sorry.” She plucked the note from her face. “Already done.”

“What did you do?”

She gestured for him to lean over to her so she could whisper. “I moved everything on his desk to the left half an inch. It’s going to drive him nuts.”

“He hasn’t noticed yet?”

“He knows something’s changed and it’s very wrong.”

“I’m starting to think I’m not giving you enough to do.”

“I’ve got plenty to do… Are you ready for tonight?”

“As I’ll ever be. Are you?”

“As I’ll ever be. I’ve got the feeling that if Lynch was told about Owens car then he’s probably been told about this too.”

“Want to call it off?”

“No… No. I just hope you’re ready to save my sorry arse when things go south.”

“We’ll be there.”

She had an awful feeling in her gut, like she was staring down the barrel of a gun. She hadn’t been able to shake it all day. She’d put on her happy face and kept herself distracted but the facade was starting to crack.

“You’re feeling it too?”

“Just nerves. It’s just nerves.”

 

Lynch smiled as Elise walked in, her weevil in tow. Scar, the seven foot tall brute of a creature, bore its teeth and grumbled at everything that moved. She held her hand up to one of Marks cronies who was wielding a cattle prod.

“Lay a hand on him before the fight and I’ll have you fed to him.” She warned, glaring. He backed off and let Scar walk into the cage himself, where he crouched down and eyed Mark with a burning hatred.

“Daliah. I was worried you weren’t coming.”

“And miss this? Of course not.”

“How did you find that one? I’ve never seen one that big before.”

“Scared?”

Anger flickered in Marks eyes but he kept his face calm. “No. I’m not.”

“You only found weak stragglers. This is as close to an alpha male as you’re going to find.” It was nonsense but it was the type of thing she knew this man would eat up. Weevils lived in family groups. They had no use for a single dominant male.

He scoffed. “I doubt you know much about alpha males.”

“No, I prefer alpha females, but feel free to keep dreaming.” She brushed off any chance he might think he had with her.

“You’ve just never had a real man before.”

She wondered if Owen was hearing this and how much self control it was taking for him not to charge in and beat this guys face into the cement. “Maybe I’m not interested. Don’t we have work to do?”

“I do, but you’ve done everything I needed you to.”

“Excuse me?” She did her best to look outraged but by this point it was more like ‘and there it is’.

“You’re going to walk into that cage.”

“Scar won’t attack me. You realise that, don’t you?”

Mark lent close and grabbed Elise’s right arm hard. “Then you can fight against me.”

She snatched her arm away from him, wondering why the team hadn’t burst in yet. “Fine.”

 

Tosh was trying to filter out the awful distortion that had taken over audio monitoring the second Elise had stepped in the door. It wasn’t something wrong with the equipment, that had been triple checked, it was interference from inside.

“I can’t get through it. I can’t hear a thing.” She said sharply, in both frustration and worry.

Jack had climbed up to the roof and looked down at the two guards who were circling the building. “Keep on it. I’m going to try and sneak in. Owen, I need you to distract the two guards.”

“Two on one. Sounds a bit unfair.” Owen replied, watching from just outside of the large outer gates.

“I’ve never heard you sound so defeated.”

“I meant for them.” He smiled to himself, a brick in one hand. He launched it hard against the door, pulling the attention of both guards who sprinted towards the gate.

Jack watched them go before lowering himself to see through the filthy window. He could see Scar the weevil being kept back by two men with cattle prods. Mark Lynch stood in the cage across from Elise who had dropped her jacket and looked ready to knock the mans head off.

 

Lynch thought that it would be an easy fight until Elise had taken her jacket off.

“The fuck is that? Why are you wearing armour?”

She rolled her eyes. “It isn’t armour, it’s my arm. The guy who’s been feeding you information took it. Where is he?”

“How should I know?”

“Well, if you’re not going to be useful then bring it on you pathetic excuse for a man.”

He roared and swung for her head with his right hand, Elise guarding and being pretty certain he broke his hand when he hit the solid steel. She stepped back to dodge his left. Blood ran down from the mans knuckles onto the cold concrete. He charged to tackle her to the floor, only to find her metal fist rammed just under his diaphragm. He spat and clutched his ribs, unable to breathe and tasting copper.

“That’s for trying to kill my boyfriend you piece of shit!” She growled. “Scar. Break those electric things.”

The weevil grabbed both cattle prods while the two men were in shock and smashed them to pieces. The two fled, throwing the cage open and sprinting towards the door as everything stopped. Elise paused and looked around, no sound, no movement. As if time itself had stopped.

“So, you’re alive as well. That’s disappointing.” Said Billis, crouching down and taking the pocket watch device from Marks pocket. “I’d hoped he would at least last long enough for this to go off and kill one of you.”

“You can stop time?”

“Evidently. Though you should have been affected too. You always have been before.”

“Why don’t you just give up? I mean what happens to you if Abaddon is freed?”

“That’s none of your business. It’s not something you could ever understand.”

“Try me.”

“It is the cost of my abilities, my success. Not that you would understand sacrifice. I mean you’ve dragged back everything you have lost, except your arm of course.”

A heat rose in Elises chest. “Sacrifice? You think I don’t know about sacrifice? Do you know the hell I go through every night?! Do you know how many times it’s felt like my soul’s been torn apart. What I’ve had to do just to keep myself safe in that place?! Of course you don’t because you’ve never been there, have you? Abaddon just moves you from time to time and you get to escape scott free.” She looked up to see fear etched into the old mans face. “And you don’t even care! The people you’ve killed, tormented, driven to the fucking edge! You don’t give a shit do you?! You’re worse than any alien! You’re a monster! And you know what?”

He staggered back, dropping the watch which exploded into a thousand shards of sharp metal suspended in time.

“Maybe you should finally meet your master face to face.”

The room was filled with a blinding light and Billis fell, pulled into the vacuum of the rift.

       

Elise dropped to her knees, confused as to what had just happened. She remembered being angry and turned to look at the glittering blades sitting still in the air. She wrapped her left hand around them and pressed them into the floor as she heard the footsteps of the men running from Scar and Marks desperate gasps and coughing. The blades hit the metal of her hands before falling uselessly to the scratched concrete. The mesh walls of the cage had been twisted and mangled.

Jack jumped down, confused at the sudden change in the scenery and knelt down at Elises side.

“What just happened?”

“I don’t… I don’t remember.”

He tilted her chin up and she didn’t have a mark on her face so it wasn’t from a punch. He’d speak to Owen about it later. Until then he turned his attention to Mr Lynch who still hadn’t managed to take a full breath. The mans diaphragm was likely still in spasm from the shock of being hit with what may have well been a sledgehammer.

“I think it’s time you retired Mr Lynch.” He glared.

Mark looked up and resigned himself to giving everything up. He’d been beaten thoroughly by a woman and to his fragile ego that was it. 

 

Tosh couldn’t sleep that night. She was still awake at three AM the next morning, in the living room with her laptop. She was scanning through data from the night before. There had been a huge spike in rift activity but only for a fraction of a second. It was as if there was a gap in the monitoring data and it had just pasted two halves together. It had to be a kind of time fluctuation. At the moment of the spike a bright light had been picked up on cameras more than a street away. It had just been a flash but it linked up. She still hadn’t worked out what the sound interference had been and it was frustrating. Since they’d left the building it had been giving out fading energy readings, like a healing rift tear. Jack said he had no idea what it was all about, and the only other person there was Elise who’d seemed disorientated and had gone right to bed as soon as they’d gotten home. She’d likely be more lucid in the morning. At least that was the hope.


End file.
